The Phoenix in Disguise
by DragonClaw827
Summary: Tsuna was kidnapped when he was little. He could only remember so little of what happened, and he remembers a bright stone. He blacked out after that, then woke up seeing Hibari-san beating up some people. "H-Hibari-san?" I called out and Hibari-san turned around to face me. "Herbivore... you're on fire."
1. Tsuna got Kidnapped

**Yeah, okay. Sorry for not updating my other story, but… Well, I'm lazy. I'm not a good authoress.**

**But…! But! This story will be fluffy! Like, friendship fluffy! I think!**

**Also, I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. If I did, Tsuna wouldn't have a crush on Kyoko. And Haru would have a crush on Tsuna. Maybe. Okay, whatever.**

* * *

Tsuna is a cute little kid, and can be easily mistaken for a girl. He had poofy brown hair and large, innocent brown eyes—and could wield sky flames.

And a certain famiglia was looking for someone just like that. Someone that could control sky flames, though that someone had to be young.

A bit before, they had found a small glowing stone in dark, dark cave, they immediately experimented on it. They took samples and gathered information. But when one scientist accidentally killed an experiment that emitted sky flames, the stone reacted and experiment was revived.

Although, something else was going through their minds at that moment. They had discovered… possibly a way to be reborn every time they have died. Just like a certain bird. A flaming bird.

A _phoenix._

However, to make this come true, they needed a crucial factor. Someone that could yield or emit sky flames. However, no one in the mafia was young enough to experiment on.

And that's why they were stalking one Sawada Tsunayoshi. A week ago when they were hunting in the streets of Namimori—in a discreet way, mind you—they spotted a little boy at the age of four, cowering away from a small dog. And when that dog jumped up, the boy did the same. Using flames.

_Sky flames, _they thought and they immediately took action.

Day after day, they gathered information on Sawada Tsunayoshi. This included information on his relatives, his preschool, his reputation, and his home activities.

They mostly need to know what his home activities were so they could kidnap him and experiment on him, and who his relatives were so just in case he died, they could use anyone else.

The day when Sawada Nana went to buy groceries, the Estraneo famiglia approached Tsuna when he was outside playing with his pink ball.

* * *

Tsuna woke up like every other day and ate breakfast like every other day.

"Tsu-kun, I'm going to go buy groceries today! We're going have hamburgers for lunch!" called Nana.

"Okay! Bye-bye!" responded Tsuna. Nana simply giggled and went out the door.

_Uwah, it's Saturday! I'm gonna play today! _Tsuna cheerfully thought as he exited the house through the front door, holding his favorite ball.

When he reached the door, Tsuna threw the ball up and down and giggled. But when he threw it up again, he missed and it rolled down to the streets.

"Oh, no! Mr. Ball, come back!" Tsuna yelped and waddled down the yard, only to find a group of men hold his ball.

"Oh, Tsuna!" one cooed.

"We found a ball and thought it might be yours!" cackled another.

Tsuna simply looked around, confused.

"Hey, Tsuna! Do you wanna play with us? We know a perfect place to play!"

_And experiment, _they all thought.

"Yeah! Let's play together!" Tsuna cheered cutely.

"..."

"Do we have to experiment on him?" one whispered.

"He's so cute..." one cooed.

The other man smacked the other two. "Yes! The phoenix stone seems to react only young living creatures that can use sky flames! With a human experiment, we can deem it safe for people."

"What?" Tsuna cocked his head to the side.

"...Er..." The one that smacked the other two hesitantly stepped forward and awkwardly cracked what seemed like a smile.

_Dang, he's really cute…_ he thought.

"C-come on, Tsuna! We'll carry you..." he stammered from the cuteness of Tsuna.

"Okay! Let's go play!" Tsuna smiled.

"Can't _I _carry him?"

"Yeah, what about _me_?"

They argued for a few minutes, but then something screeched from their headphones…

"_You freakin' idiots! Just grab him and go!" _the caller screeched.

"Ooh, what is that?" Tsuna asked adorably.

"N-nothing!" one yelped and then hissed, "Language! There's an adorable, innocent kid here!"

"_... Che._"

And then they continued on to the Estraneo Base of Namimori.

* * *

When they arrived, they were greeted by their peers as they rushed passed them.

"Uwah, he's so cute..." one of the trio commented.

"Yeah… I feel guilty..." the other agreed.

"I don't feel worthy to be in his adorable presence!"

Tsuna cocked his head to the side, not following their discussion.

"See? See? Looked at that adorable tilt of his head!"

They squealed. _Squealed._ However, their gushing came to a halt. The mood turned sour.

"Oh… We're already here… P-poor Tsuna..." one man sniffed. They opened the door.

"We're definitely going to Hell! He's an angel..."

They proceeded to walk in.

"Argh, I don't wanna..."

They gulped. Finally, one snapped.

"UWAH, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I CAN'T WATCH THIS!"

It was like a train of reactions. A magical train—all caused by a cute little boy.

"ME NEITHER!"

"SCREW IT! I'M LEAVING!"

"Huh, weren't they going to play with me?" Tsuna wondered. He shook his head and thought, _Well, no one really keeps their promise with _me.

At his own thought, he pouted. And then he sniffled. However, he shook his head before he could start crying.

"It's okay, I'm going to find my way out!" Tsuna told himself. Just as he was going to exit, he heard a voice.

"Wow, they left all ready? Weaklings," a voice insulted.

Tsuna blinked. "Oh! You're that voice from the thingy!" he pointed cutely.

"Yes, yes, I suppose I am," the voice sighed. There were footsteps and they steadily got louder. His face appeared from the shadows.

Tsuna squeaked.

"Well, now, time to get to business, 'ey?" he cackled as he picked up an injection full of orange liquid.

And then Tsuna's screams were heard throughout the Estraneo base.

* * *

The man scowled.

_The experiment didn't work! Argggh!_ he took a deep breath. _Well, I suppose I don't want this body in my lab. Better dump him _somewhere.

And with that, he called his subordinates.

* * *

"Tsu-kun, I'm home!" Nana called out.

_Silence…_

"Tsu-kun? My, he must be sleeping because he played too much. I better wake him now," she said as she climbed up the stairs. Nana turned around to face Tsuna's door, however, when she opened the door, she did not find Tsuna.

"Tsuna?! Tsu-kun, where are you?!" Nana panicked and raced around in the house, hoping to find her son somewhere in the house.

* * *

"Alright, I want you two to dump this body out of here. There's no garbage disposal and there's no flames available… They're all occupied for the Phoenix Stone."

_Which flame is compatible with the stone? Can the stone be used to revive other flame users? _his thoughts raced with possibilities.

"—ir? Sir? Where do we place this body?"

He snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, just dumped him somewhere away from our base. Maybe on the far side of the town."

And he didn't know… that on the far side of the town was… the demon prefect's house. Hibari Kyoya's house.

* * *

**Ooh, look at that cliffhanger! XDDD**

**Aha, yeah...**

**See you later!**


	2. Cuddles

**Wow. I almost made Tsuna into a genius in this chapter. Just saying, but Tsuna is like, seven years old so he's in… second grade. Yeah. And Kyoya is two years older…**

**Haha.**

**My sister made me write so much. Thank her. Thank Scheming Rabbit and… maybe check out her story, **_**Little Prince.**_

**Also! Just saying! I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Because… giggle. Heh. Heh.**

* * *

Tsuna felt pain. A lot of pain.

_I-it… hurts…! _Tsuna pitifully thought.

He could not see anything or move. But Tsuna could tell that he was being carried off somewhere. Everything sounded distorted—all weird.

The next thing he remembered was that he fell painfully on his back and he heard lots of screams.

"Argh..." Tsuna groaned. Tsuna felt slightly warm and concluded that he was sick.

_I guess that place was a hospital. The scary man gave me a shot… Mama would be there when I get a shot… Why wasn't Mama there? Mama… I don't wanna be sick._

Tsuna heard a grunt and he opened his eyes on instinct. He felt danger. His instincts were telling him to _get away. Spread his wings and flee._

_W-wings? I don't have wings… But I have to get away. _His eyes roamed his surroundings and blinked. There was a familiar figure in his field of vision. However, his eyesight was still blurry from the intense pain he felt before losing conscious.

When his sight cleared up, he could identify the figure from his face. And that figure was one to be feared.

_Hibari-san!_

"H-Hibari-san…?" Tsuna croaked. Hibari turned around fully and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. He seems to be focusing on something else.

_Hiiiie! He's not thinking of biting me to death, right? Please no… _Tsuna mentally whimpered.

"Herbivore..." Tsuna tensed.

_What rule did I break now?!_

"You're on fire."

"…"

"…"

"Huh?" Tsuna blinked and sat up, but a flash of pain from his limbs prevented him from doing so fully.

"Owiiie!"

_It hurts! _Tsuna wailed in his mind. He struggled to turn around, but managed and indeed…

"HIIIIIE! I'm on f-fire! My back is on fire!" he yelped and attempted to get up to get a better view.

"OWIE!"

Before he dropped down on the floor in pain, he saw that he had orange flames that flared out to the side for a couple feet. It looked like he had wings. But for some strange reason, the flames did not hurt. Instead, they gave them warmth and happiness—something he did not experienced often.

A sigh was heard. "Herbivore, if you keep on scrambling around, you'll be in more pain."

"B-but… I have to get back to Mama… She might be worried!" Tsuna said and looked down in fear. The fire on his back seemed to have tensed up.

"Since the hospitals are closed down for some reason and I do not know where you live... I'll heal you. Leaving a citizen of Namimori on the streets unprotected would desecrate the beauty of Namimori," Hibari replied.

Tsuna seemed relieved and shocked, and loosened up. And with that, the fire went out and Tsuna passed out after a few seconds.

* * *

In Italy, there was a man with blonde hair that seemed to be buried under a mountain of papers.

"Argh, why are there so many papers?! I shouldn't have this many like Nono!" he complained to himself.

Suddenly, his phone rang, alerting him and preventing him from falling into the hands of sleep.

"Argh… I just wanna sleep..."

"If you do that, I will come in there and _make _you do your paperwork! It's your fault you have that much anyway," threatened a voice through the wall. Then the voice spoke to itself, "Really… Destroying our one of allies' base with a bazooka? How did that happen?"

The man just sighed and answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"_Honey! Tsu-kun is missing!"_

"Nana?"

"_I don't know where he is! I just_—_I just don't know what to do!"_

"Nana, calm down. What happened?"

"_He_—_he… I went to buy groceries, but after I came back I couldn't find Tsu-kun! He was supposed to be playing with his favorite pink ball like always, but_—_but he's not here!"_

"Nana, I… I can't..." the man trailed off. His eyes were swirling with worry and panic but held a mask of calmness. "As much as I want to—"

"_Why? Why can't you be here for us? Why can't you_—" Nana broke off, sobbing. "_I just… __**Why?! **__Why…?"_

"Nana..." his voice cracked, unable to keep his calm mask on.

"Iemitsu," an elderly voice called out.

Iemitsu turned around, tears already collecting in the corners of his eyes.

"Nono?"

"You can go." Iemitsu muttered something to Nana through the phone and he was gone in a matter of seconds.

* * *

When Tsuna woke up, he felt slightly better, but he still felt sore.

"Nrrrrghh..." Tsuna groaned. Everything just felt painful. Painful. Pain. Tsuna did not like pain.

"I hate pain…" Tsuna grumbled to himself. Why couldn't everything be nice? Like Mama! Tsuna misses Mama. Why wasn't Mama here right now?

"Mama..." Tsuna whispered. Tears began to well up in his eyes from the loneliness.

"Herbivore, I do not need you to cry. It's annoying. Shut up before I bite you to death," a familiar voice threatened.

Tsuna whirled around quickly. "Hiie! H-Hibari-san…? P-please don't bite me to death!"

"I told you to shut up."

Tsuna hurriedly covered his mouth with trembling hands, making a slapping sound.

"Hn." And Hibari exited the room.

_When did he enter? Actually, where am I?_ Tsuna wondered.

Tsuna took this time to look at his surroundings. The walls had a clean cream look and had a calendar to show the day, with zabuton cushions adorning the floor. The floors were tatami and there was a hot cup of green tea and some takoyaki next to him. The steam from the green tea was like a thick ribbon, dancing upwards in circles and seemed limitless. He was sitting on a futon, which was very warm and comfortable. There was a cool breeze coming from the door connecting to the outside.

_It looks like those places in the movies… and it's very roomy. It's like a castle!_—_Is... Hibari-san rich?_

**Grumble...**

Tsuna blushed. Ah, he was hungry. Then he looked at the takoyaki and green tea.

"Did Hibari-san make me this?"

Tsuna smiled childishly. "How nice of him!"

…

...

"Hibari-san… nice?" Tsuna gasped. "Well, he _is _a human being. Everyone has a heart—no matter how scary Hibari-san can be..."

After his sudden revelation, he decided to eat the takoyaki and the steaming hot green tea. He picked one up with the toothpick that was delicately put to the side and blew on it to help cool it down. Then he popped it into his mouth.

"Mmh… It's yummy! I wish I could make something like this, but I'm dame..." Tsuna sighed wistfully. He chewed carefully and swallowed.

He held the cup delicately and took a sip. "Uwah, it's like the tea I have at home!"

Tsuna's eyes dimmed. "Home..." He sighed. "I miss home. I miss Mama."

He shook his head. "I shouldn't think about that! Just get better! For Mama!" And he continued to eat with renewed energy.

Sparkles and rainbows could be seen from all around.

_...Is this the herbivore's doing?_ Hibari wondered silently to himself as the light died down.

"How strange," he mused, then took a gentle sip from his cup. "I wonder if he ate the food I laid out for him."

Tsuna, content and full, looked out the window. It was night and the moon was full and bright.

_On the days when the moon was big, Mama would sing for me… _Tsuna learned many songs from his mother, who sings gently and lovingly. Tsuna hoped that he could one day, like his mother, help others calm down through singing.

He opened his mouth and sang quietly into the night.

"Yoru no yami ni hitori tokekomi

Hakanaku chiru MONOCHROME no sekai somari

Tsukami sokoneta hoshi no kakera

Bokura hiroiatsumete ikeruto shinji

Dare ga kitemo koko kara saki wa dare hitori toosanai

Hakanaku mai tobu you ni

Aoku izanau sora e

Tatoe donna iro somatte mo

Mamorinuiteku

Uzumaku kanjyou ni sae

Nagasarenai tsuyosa wo

Futatabi kurikaesareru akashi

Jibun no risou oimotomeru

Kedakaki kokou no ukigumo no you ni

Kono boku ni tachimukau kakugo to chikara wa kimi ni aru no ka

Nibiiro ni somaru machi

Awaku kagayaku you ni

Tatoe donna miraizou demo

Shinjiru tsuyosa

Jyakusha wa tsuchi ni kaeri

Tsuyoki mono ga nokotteku

Futatabi kurikaesareru akashi

Atsui kumo wo nukereba

Shiroki sekai utsuridasu

Tatoe donna michi dato shitemo

Tsunagatte iru

Torawarenai tsuyosa ga

Waga michi wo kirihiraku

Futatabi kurikaesareru akashi

Dare ga kitemo koko kara saki wa dare hitori toosanai

Hakanaku mai tobu you ni

Aoku izanau sora e

Tatoe donna iro somatte mo

Mamorinuiteku

Uzumaku kanjyou ni sae

Nagasarenai tsuyosa wo

Futatabi kurikaesareru akashi

Tatoe donna iro somatte mo

Hakanaku mai tobu you ni

Futatabi kurikaesareru akashi..."

"Wao."

Tsuna whirled around and screamed. "Hiiie! Wha-wha—I, uh, I-I… Don't tell anyone!" Tsuna slowly realized that it was Hibari. "Uh… Uh..."

Hibari snorted. "Really… A herbivore is a herbivore, no matter what."

Tsuna looked down in embarrassment. "It's just… No one knows that I can sing… and I'd like to keep it that way."

Hibari was curious. "Oh, why?"

"Because of my bullies!" Tsuna snapped. His eyes widened and then softened. "Sorry, it's just that they might think it's girly..."

Hibari ignored the fact that he snapped at him. "There are male singers," Hibari contradicted.

"That's true, but… it doesn't matter. They would look for any chance to make fun of me."

"There shouldn't be bullies anyway. I should bite them to death." A strange, evil glint appeared in Hibari's eyes. Tsuna shivered at this, but he settled for sighing.

"I wish I can fight back like you. I wish I wasn't Dame-Tsuna!" Tears started to pour. "Why am I so useless?"

Tsuna shrunk back and hid his face away from the world, crawling into a fetal position. Hibari shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do. "Herbivore..."

Tsuna paid no attention for his misery was too great.

"Herbivore, if you don't stop moping, I will bite you to death," Hibari threatened, attempting to stop him from crying.

Tsuna simply curled up into a tighter ball, which made him look like a cute brown ball of misery.

To Tsuna, this whole predicament made him feel miserable. As he was wallowing in self pity, he felt a lot more warmer. And tired. So he decided that he would go to sleep and try not to bother Hibari too much.

* * *

Hibari frowned. Why was he doing this again? He should've just bitten the herbivore to death. Then he recalled the flickering flames.

_Tsuna was moping and curled up in a tight ball. Suddenly, orange flames began to form over him. Hibari stared, shocked, but quickly took action._

"_Herbivore, your back—it's on fire again."_

_He was about to stand up and get water, but then he realized that Tsuna was not flinching in pain. He narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. _Wasn't he wincing in pain before? No, he seemed oblivious of the flames. Do the flames not hurt? he paused and then stood. Walking over to Tsuna he held a hand near the flames.

It's looks the same as before, and it radiates heat. However, it doesn't seem to burn...

_He touched the flames, amazed at the fact that his hand was not burning. His eye twitched. "What kind of fire does not burn things?"_

What is this herbivore…? What was he doing with those suspicious herbivores? Hm, I—_ His thoughts were cut off by Tsuna._

_Tsuna shifted and hugged Hibari. Tsuna was barely conscious at the time, and thought Hibari was his plushy that he usually slept with. His plushy was a lion cub that was very chibi, which Tsuna named Natsu because it was summer when Nana purchased it for him._

_Hibari was tempted to throw Tsuna off of him, but saw his very… cute, herbivorous face. His weakness for cute animals seem to have taken over and let Tsuna sleep peacefully._

"What a strange herbivore…" Hibari whispered.

* * *

When Tsuna woke up once again, he felt very comfortable and warm. He saw pale arms wrapped around him and concluded that everything was a bad dream.

_Ah, but that takoyaki was so good~ And that takoyaki was made… by… Hibari-san…_

"Hibari-san…?" Tsuna mumbled and looked up. And there he saw Hibari peacefully sleeping. Tsuna was tempted to scream, but caught himself before he did. It wouldn't do for him to get more hurt.

Hibari was beginning to wake up. The sunlight was, once again, waking him up and someone was calling his name. Oh, how he hated the sun.

"Hibari-san…?"

His eyes fluttered opened, wondering who was there. He looked down.

_Ah._

"Herbivore," he acknowledged.

Tsuna paused. "Uh, I—er, s-sorry!" And he hurriedly got off. Well, he would've, if not for the fact that Hibari didn't let go. So he fell.

On top of Hibari.

"S-sorry…!"

Hibari ignored him and looked at the single calendar in the room.

_Sunday. My patrol does not start until one o'clock. And judging by how the sun just came up, it's about six o'clock._

"I'm going to sleep more, "Hibari simply stated, motioning Tsuna to do the same.

"A-ah..." Tsuna replied.

Tsuna did not know what to do. On one hand, he wanted to get up and…

_And what? Look for Mama?_

… And on the other hand, he did not want to go against Hibari. It was like a death wish to go against him.

_But, _he still was sleepy. Sleep it is.

It was not comfortable for Tsuna, who was stiff yet sleepy, but over time he fell asleep against Hibari.

* * *

"U-um… " Tsuna mumbled from his blanket cocoon.

Hibari was long gone from the room, mumbling about, "Clingy herbivore..." and a quiet "cute..."

He did not mean to hug Hibari when he was sleeping. He was now embarrassed.

What a sight it could've been if someone had seen.

But Tsuna did not know that Kusakabe came and went silently, smirking to himself when he saw. And Hibari bit him to death for that when he found out.

Kusakabe honestly thought it was going to be a normal day.

Wake up, deal with hair, eat, go to Kyo-san's house, wait for orders, beat up delinquents, eat, beat up more rule-breakers, eat, sleep, and repeat.

But that was not the case when he went to Kyo-san's house. He saw a… "herbivore" cuddling with Kyo-san. That never happens.

Ever.

He wished he could take a picture just for the sake of the picture, but he knew that the slightest of sounds can wake him up. Just like a beast.

So he settled for staring for longer, then left with a content smirk.

Then the smirk turned into a sheepish smile later that day when Kyo-san found out.

* * *

**I ended with a happy note, no? :D**


	3. Flaming Wings

**Sorry I didn't update lately! Ahaha… Yeah… I made a promise to someone that I would update last week but… that didn't happen. I forgot. I FORGOT! Noooooooooo!**

~Because FF doesn't want to function today~

"Mou… I'm bored..." Tsuna mumbled as he layed down on the bed. _Why couldn't Hibari-san let me see Mama?_ Tsuna blinked, before remembering. _Oh, yeah… He said something about "weak" and "busy"... But then he started using big words, so I didn't get it. Where did he learn those big words? It was confusing…_

Tsuna's head started to hurt from all the thinking, so he turned his head away from the room that reminded him of Hibari and looked out the doorway that led outside.

"Ah, it's so peaceful..." Tsuna said as he peered out the doorway. The scenery was simply breath-taking. There was a pond that had lily pads scattered all over with lotus flowers adorning the green leaves. Rough stones bordered the pond and green grass brushed everything on the ground. A sakura tree rained small, soft petals, which landed on the thin, ticklish grass and on the smooth, clear water. The blue sky had white, seemingly glowing, clouds joining together in the bright blue mass. Faraway, there was a brick wall that consisted of a solid shade of dark cream in color.

"Ah, it's so pretty~!" he squealed, smiling brightly. "I wish I could go outside..."

"Then go out," a familiar voice stated in a bored voice. Tsuna whirled around in shock. "A-ah, Hibari-san?"

"Yes, it's me." He deadpanned.

"O-oh.. So I can go out?" Tsuna timidly asked.

Hibari gave him a blank look. Then he sighed. "As long as you don't hurt yourself..." He paused. "It would be troublesome to heal you again."

Tsuna smiled brightly. "Uwah, really? Thank you, Hibari-san!" And skipped out to the outside world.

It really made Tsuna happy, since it felt so peaceful. And it felt really warm, for some reason.

Much more warmer than it felt like initially. It was like he took a warm bath, and dried himself under a kotatsu.

"Mmh, it seems a lot more warmer..." Tsuna mumbled. Then he brightened up again. "Oh, well!"

~0~

Just like he saw before, the tiny herbivore caught on fire.

_What is up with this herbivore and fire? He better not be doing this on purpose… or else I'll bite him to death._

But he shouldn't assume. After all, the herbivore doesn't seem to mind that there's orange flames on his back.

_Again… the fire doesn't not seem to affect him and the fire is spread out into the air… He looks like a flaming angel, _Hibari thought. Then he blinked. _A flaming angel?_

He peered at the curious child who was looking at the clear water with a panicked expression.

_Why ishe so panicked?_

"M-my back is on fire! Hiieee!"

_Oh. So he's not doing it on purpose. Huh. That answers one of my questions, _the nine year old thought. He watched the child flail around and trip.

"Calm down," Hibari ordered.

"H-how? I-it's on fire!" Tsuna yelped.

"Haven't you noticed that it doesn't hurt you?" Hibari deadpanned.

"Oh..." he stopped.

There was silence.

Tsuna shuffled around uncomfortably. "It's very warm," Tsuna commented.

"Yes, I know. I felt it before," Hibari replied.

"Huh? When?"  
"Are you commanding me to tell you?"

"N-no! I just wanted to know..." Tsuna slumped in his spot with wide eyes.

Hibari sighed. "When you fell asleep the night before."

"Huh?"

"Your flames."

"Oh…" he mumbled. "Why is my back like this?"

"Does it look like I know?"

Tsuna stared at him.

"No, I don't know," Hibari said, exasperated.

_Silence..._

"Why were you with those scientists?" Hibari asked.

"The… scientists…?"

"Yes, the men in white."

"Oh, they said that they were going to play with me!" he chirped. But then he looked at the grass sadly. "But that never happened..."

"Didn't your mother said that you shouldn't go to strangers?"

"She said that I shouldn't go to strangers that ask if I want candy."

"... you shouldn't go to strangers in general."

"In general?"

"You need to work on your vocabulary..."

"Vokhabulerry?"

Hibari sighed. He needed to teach the herbivore _vocabulary _and what happens when you go to strangers.

He paused.

On second thought, maybe he shouldn't tell him what happens when you go with strangers...

~0~

"Nana! Nana!" Iemitsu yelled, slamming the front door open. The said woman turned around from the kitchen, revealing her tear-stained cheeks.

"I-Iemi-itsu… I miss Tsuna so _much!_" she wailed. "What if he's hurt? What if he's not even in Japan anymore?"

"N-Nana... " Iemitsu said, reaching out for her to comfort her, even though he's as worried as her in the inside.

"Nana, it's okay… I'm going to go look for him and if I don't find him then I'll..." he trailed off. What _would _he do? He couldn't use his men—

Nana looked at him with hopeful eyes.

… Could he?

"I'll… contact my boss if we can get more help," he finished.

"Th-thank you..." Nana whispered weakly and cried into his suit.

~0~

Tsuna hummed curiously. "My fire is weird!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"_Your_ fire?" Hibari asked through narrowed eyes. _So can he control it? But he seemed surprised when he saw the flames..._

Tsuna was completely oblivious to the glare. "Well, it's on my back so..." Tsuna trailed off.

Hibari grunted.

Tsuna blinked. Then he looked at his back. "How do I make these go away?"

"I don't know," Hibari mumbled. Tsuna pouted as he poked the flames.

"Ne, ne, Fire-san, can you go away?" Tsuna asked. After he asked, the flames began to diminish. "Wah, Fire-san's nice!"

Hibari frowned. _So _can _he control the flames?_ _And what kind of name is "Fire-san"? Those look like wings, so..._

"I wonder..." Hibari mumbled.

"What?" Tsuna asked.

Hibari glared. "Are you ordering me to tell you?"

Tsuna squeaked. "No, no! I just wanted to know so..." Tsuna mumbled. He looked down.

Hibari's eyebrow twitched. _Why is this herbivore… cute?_

He took a deep breath in and then exhaled. Then he said, "Since the flames on your back look like wings, I wondered if you could fly."

Tsuna blinked. "Oh. They look like wings?" He peered at his back, mumbling a curious hum. Then he squeezed his eyes shut.

Hibari looked at him with a curious gaze. _What is he doing?_

Suddenly, the flames appeared, flaring up with life, causing Hibari jerked back in surprise.

"Oh, you're right!" Tsuna exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement. He began poking his flame wings and moving his shoulder.

Hibari composed himself, then narrowed his eyes and growled, "Herbivore..." Hibari stood up threateningly.

Tsuna stiffened. "A-ah, sorry, I-I, uh..." The flame wings on his back stiffened and covered Tsuna.

Hibari's eyes widened. _What—?_

"W-what is—?" Tsuna stuttered. The flame wings uncovered him and drooped, as if apologizing.

"F-Fire-san?" Tsuna murmured, a confused expression plastered on his face.

… _Does the fire have a mind of its own? It certainly acts like it… _Hibari thought.

Tsuna resumed to poking his flaming wings, trying to move them but to no avail. He tried moving his shoulders, but that only shifted the wings. Hibari watched with an interested gaze, taking mental notes of how the wings reacted. So far, nothing happened.

Tsuna pouted. "Ne, ne, Fire-san, can you flap?" The wings twitched.

Hibari narrowed his eyes. _What will happen? Do the wings only react to verbal commands?_

Hibari received his answer moments later.

The wings shifted up and then started to smoothly move in graceful arcs.

"My wings are pretty!" Tsuna exclaimed, mesmerized by the arcs of the wings.

The wings picked up the pace and slowly, Tsuna was lifted off the floor and into the air. Tsuna blinked rapidly and started to panic.

"A-ah, Hibari-san..! Should I keep on flying?" Tsuna stammered, not knowing what to do in the air.

Hibari himself did not know what to do. _But… those are made of _fire! He shook his head. _Fire shouldn't even be wing-shaped or inflict no pain._

"Herbivore, try moving around," Hibari ordered. Tsuna simply tilted his head, not understanding what he should do.

Hibari sighed in exasperation and said, "Try flying towards the couch."

Tsuna looked around and spotted the couch. He flailed his arms around in what looked like a breaststroke (a clumsy one since he doesn't know how to swim) before he gave up after a few seconds and struck a thinking pose in midair. Hibari started to wonder what was going on in the herbivore's mind.

"Hm..." Tsuna hummed. Then suddenly he exclaimed, "Aha!" Tsuna closed his eyes in concentration and thought, _Fire-san, can you flap towards the couch?_

He continued to fly in the same spot, making the children wonder if Tsuna was going to move or not. Soon after, he began to flap to the couch. He was gently lowered to the couch's soft seats and Hibari blinked.

"Aha, that was fun!" Tsuna chirped. "And scary!"

"Hah..."

"Ne, ne, Hibari-san, have you been in the air before?"

Hibari simply stared at Tsuna, thinking that the answer was obvious.

Tsuna stared back, confused.

They stared for a couple of minutes.

"No, herbivore, I haven't. Unlike you, I don't have wings."

Tsuna blinked. "Oh." Then he brightened up again. "Well, it's fun! And scary! And weird!"

_Weird? _Hibari thought.

~0~

"Boss..." Iemitsu bit his lip. "Can I use my men to find my son?"

"Iemitsu..." came Nono's warning voice.

"But… He's my _son! _I gave up time for my family to serve Vongola and to keep them safe!"

"I… I just… don't know, Iemitsu. Don't you think it would be suspicious to see people dressed in black in a relatively peaceful town?"

"I… I promise that they won't be seen. I bet on my life!"

"Iemitsu!"

"I bet on my life! So please! I need help…!"

There was a sigh on the other side of the phone. "Fine..."

~0~

It was nighttime and Tsuna was really sleepy. After hours of flying with his fiery wings, he began to tire out.

And Hibari had to carry him to his room.

"Thank you, Hibari-san..." Tsuna mumbled.

"Just go to sleep."

"Hai..."

"... Hn."

Hibari peered over his shoulder and saw Tsuna burying his head into his neck. _Th-that's… too cute for a herbivore…_

Hibari sighed and opened the door to Tsuna's temporary room, careful not to drop Tsuna. He walked over to the futon and laid Tsuna on top, draping the thick covers over him. Just as he was going to leave, Tsuna's tiny hands caught his sleeve.

"D...don't leave… Hibari-san..."

Hibari paused, unsure if he should wake him up and make him unhand him, or stay.

Hibari gritted his teeth, feeling like a herbivore, and cursed Tsuna for being cute. He then slipped under the covers with Tsuna, marvelling how warm Tsuna was and how herbivorous (cute) Tsuna was as he buried his head into Hibari's neck.

"Too… cute..." Hibari whispered, blushing.

~0~

Inside of Tsuna's mind, he was dreaming. It was warm! dark, but warm, nonetheless.

"Ah~ It's so warm~!" Tsuna sang. His wings popped into existence from the sheer happiness and joy Tsuna was experiencing.

"Ah! Fire-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, startled.

"_Tsunayoshi-kun…_" a voice echoed.

"H-hah?!" Tsuna gasped.

"_Do not fear me, Tsunayoshi-kun..._"

"F-Fire-san?" Tsuna looked at his back with curiosity.

There was a chuckle and then, "_Yes, Tsunayoshi-kun, I am who you call 'Fire-san'._" Fire-san flapped a few times, then folded.

There was a mutter of, "_Still not used to this form..._" But Tsuna heard it.

"Form?" Tsuna questioned.

"_Ah! My apologies, Tsunayoshi-kun!_" Fire-san exclaimed, twitching. "_You do not need to make yourself worry about it!_"

"But… don't you need help?" Tsuna asked. The pair of wings shifted, confused.

"_Help?_"

"Yeah, help!" Tsuna chirped.

"_And may I ask what I need help in?_" Fire-san questioned.

"Hibari-san said that form is like..." Tsuna scrunched up his face cutely, trying to remember his lesson with Hibari earlier that day. "Uh… shape?"

"_Yes, shape is close enough._"

"So, you're not used to your wing-shape!" Tsuna said.

"_... Yes, I am not. Then again, I wasn't used to that stone-shape, either. It's been hundreds of years and I'm not used to _any _of this!_" the pair of wings exclaimed, suddenly unfolding and flapping a few times.

This startled Tsuna of course, yelping as it did.

"_Ah, my apologies, Tsunayoshi-kun! I did not mean to startle you!_"

"I-it's okay. Also, why are you so… polite? Yeah, polite!" Tsuna paused. "Not that I'm saying that it's not good to be polite!"

Fire-san chuckled as Tsuna was getting more flustered by the second.

"_Tsunayoshi-kun,_" Fire-san called out. "_I am polite because… I am simply used to being polite._"

"Oh..." Tsuna blinked. Then fell silent. It was an awkward silence, really, until Tsuna broke by remembering something.

"Oh, yeah! Fire-san!"

Fire-san perked up. "_Yes?_"

"Call me Tsuna! Anything besides Tsunayoshi!" he exclaimed.

This surprised Fire-san, but he complied. "_Alright, Tsuna...kun. You may call me Giotto, then_."

Tsuna smiled brightly. "Hai!"

~0~

Tsuna woke up, still very warm, and comfortable. "Mmh..." Tsuna mumbled. He snuggled in deeper within the covers and… What was he hugging?

He blearily opened one of his eyes and saw pale skin. "Mmh…?"

"I see you're awake now, herbivore."

Tsuna woke up all the way, his eyes opening wide in shock. "H-Hibari-san?"

"Yes, herbivore, it is me," Hibari replied easily.

Tsuna blinked many times. "Where are you, Hibari-san?" He sat up. Moments later, there was a rustling sound.

"I am right next to you."

"HIIIIIEE!"

~0~

"G-gomen, Hibari-san..." Tsuna apologized, embarrassed by his girlish screaming.

Hibari didn't reply, still tending his ears.

Minutes later, Tsuna broke the silence. "Ne, Hibari-san..."

"... Hn?"

"Have you ever had a dream where you talked to someone like you would in real life?" Tsuna asked, large brown eyes brimming with curiosity.

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I talked to Fire-san in my dream!" Tsuna chirped.

"... What did you talk about?"

"We talked about forms! And names!"

"... Names?"

"Un! He said that his real name was Giotto!"

Hibari's eyes widened. _Giotto? My ancestor's boss?_

~0~

**So, you likey? :D Yes, I shall **_**try **_**to update next week! Also! Pairings!**

**Pairings: No pairings or yaoi (fluff and such)**

**I will not accept het pairings (ex. Tsuna and Kyoko). If you request, I shall turn down thy… er… request!**

**So! If so yaoi pairings, which? I think Hibari and Tsuna is already… sailing? Yes! A boat full of fluffy stuff!**


	4. A Chat with Fire-san

**No excuses... You can flame me for not updating.**

* * *

"Hibari-san? Hibari-san, what's wrong?" Tsuna asked. He studied the other's face, trying to find a clue why he was so surprised.

Hibari snapped out of his shock and stared. "It's nothing," he lied, but Tsuna frowned.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at him. "You're lying."

Hibari glared. "I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I am not."

"Yes, you _are_! I can tell!"

Instead of being angry, Hibari felt curious. "How?"

"There's this... feeling in my head and my heart feels… weird when someone lies," Tsuna explained.

_Does he have some sort of sickness or unworldly luck…? Or does he have a good sense of intuition?_ Hibari thought to himself.

"It's just luck," Hibari said, shaking off the bizarre idea of some sort of special intuition. It probably had nothing to do with Giotto.

Tsuna pouted. "It's not luck! I know! I've never been wrong before," he insisted, cheeks puffing out in an agitated manner.

_If he's never been wrong before, then that mean he _does _have a good sense of intuition… _Hibari paused. _Intuition… Giotto… _His eyes widened. _So he_—

Tsuna peered at him curiously. "Hibari-san?"

No response.

"Hibari-san?" he repeated.

Still no response.

Tsuna stood up and looked curiously at Hibari. Walking over, Tsuna was startled when Hibari abruptly stood up and said, "I'm going patrolling."

Wondering if he'd done anything wrong, he followed Hibari with a concerned gaze.

* * *

Nana paced around the room, rubbing her eyes occasionally. "I shouldn't have let Tsuna alone… I won't let him alone ever again..."

She stifled a sob. "_If_ I ever get him back… Oh, Tsuna… Iemitsu," She looked up and out the window. "Please find him."

* * *

Iemitsu waited anxiously at the runway in the forest. Namimori forest was a generally quiet place and a jet landing was sure to be heard by others. Why did they choose a _quiet_ forest?!

_Oh, just arrive already! I want to see my son... After all these years… _Iemitsu looked older than what he actually was. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed impatiently. The stress was getting to him...

Glancing up at the sky, he hoped nothing had happened to his son.

* * *

Hibari was walking silently, staring at the ground.

_Did I do something wrong?_ Tsuna thought. He stared at Hibari's back.

It was quiet.

If anyone had looked from their window, they would see Hibari walking. They would shrink back in fear, about to close their blinds, but see a little cute boy following him with a curious look on his face.

And they would think, _What is that little boy doing?! He's gonna get bitten to death!_

About to shout and warn the little boy, they notice that the infamous skylark was not doing anything. Confusion would take reign over their minds, the thought sticking to their brains. "_Why isn't Hibari doing anything?"_ they would say. They would shake their heads, frowning in confusion, then closing their blinds to mull over this fact.

Tsuna blinked. Everyone's windows were shut and their blinds fluttered softly from being closed recently. Why was everyone's blinds closed?

Tsuna shrugged in confusion and looked back at Hibari again. "Hibari-san..." he called.

Still no response. Tears began prickling at the edges of his eyes. Did he do something wrong? Surely he did. Guilt and sadness made his small heart heavy.

"Hibari..." he whimpered. His face felt hot and his body felt warm. He looked down and squeezed his eyes together.

"What did I do…?"

* * *

Hibari had a revelation. The little herbivore was the descendant of a carnivore. The _little herbivore_ was the descendant of a _carnivore._ Hibari did not give the title of carnivore so easily. Actually, it was almost impossible to get the title, for nearly everyone he knew or saw was a herbivore—irritating, noisy, crowding, _weak _herbivores.

It was unbelievable. But… it made sense. The little herbivore resembled the carnivore from the paintings and he even has the famous hyper intuition.

He continued walking thinking about the little herbivore and his orange flames. _Why are his wings called Giotto? Is the soul of Giotto trapped in the wings? Where did the little herbivore _get _the wings?_

He vaguely heard whimpering in the background. _I must be near the woods—animals will get hurt in the wild. I must not interfere with nature. _But even as he thought this, he had the urge to help out the little animal that was hurt. He looked back up from the ground—he was now aware of everything. The blinds of houses were closed and the sky was bright. The sun was beating down hard and there was the soft pitter patter of someone's footsteps. He was nowhere near the forest. Strangely enough, the steps were getting weaker until he heard a small _poof!_

It was confusing so he glanced behind him. He initially did not understand what… _that _was, but then it dawned to him.

Orange flames…

Brownish eyes…

An image flashed in his mind.

… _Oh. The little herbivore followed me?_

* * *

Tsuna was just so… so… _guilty! _He was not aware of what he did, but surely it was bad if Hibari was ignoring him!

He quietly stifled his whimpers and paid no attention to the fact that he was really, _really _warm—warmer than he should a regular hot day—and the fact he suddenly turned smaller. He stumbled; his legs seemed to forget how to walk properly. And, on instincts, he hopped. He hopped along, sniffling and brushing away his tears with something soft and warm. Did he wear a sweater today? Why would he wear a sweater when it's so _hot?_

"Herbivore?"

_Eh? _Tsuna looked up. But when he did, he jumped back a foot. "When did you get so big?!" he squeaked.

"... You're a bird. A flaming bird," Hibari replied.

Tsuna blinked his large, brown bird-eyes and chirped with a hint of confusion laced within it. He tried moving his arms forward but winced when he felt that they did _not _move that way. He looked down instead.

What he saw was not what he was expecting at _all._ Orange feathers covered his chest and it looked _fluffy._ He could see large brown claws, replacing his feet. He stretched his wings high above his head and saw it was orange with a tint of red where his wings connected with his body. At the end of his wings, warm orange flames licked up at the sky calmly.

He didn't know what to make of this. What… what was happening? His mind was not comprehending… Wha… He... was not human?

"Hibari-san, wha...?" he squeaked. And fainted.

* * *

He looked at the small creature in his hands. After the little herbivore had fainted, he had picked him up and headed back home. His flames were pleasantly warm as always.

… _What a strange herbivore… Choosing to move when he's not even healed completely and he's already fainting…_

* * *

"_Tsuna-kun,_" a voice called out. The voice sounded familiar...

"_Tsuna-kun, you have to wake up!_" the voice paused. Oh, it's Fire-san's voice! "_Well, if you wake up here then that means that you would be stuck here in your mind for a bit…_" Fire-san said. Ah, but Fire-san told him to call him… Boto? Jugo? Jo… do?

"_Nevermind, Tsuna-kun, go back to sleep!_" Jodo said frantically.

"Ah, Jodo-san?" Tsuna mumbled, rubbing his eyes weakly. He pushed himself up to sit.

"_... It's actually Giotto, not Jodo._"

"Oh… Sorry," he apologized.

"_Ah, it's okay! Just remember that from now on,_" he chastised lightly.

Tsuna nodded. Looking down on himself, he vaguely remembered...

He shot up from his position and shouted in shock, "I'm a bird!" His immense shock had caused his flaming wings to pop into existence from his back, flames ever so gently swaying.

There was silence.

Giotto spoke up after a while. "_Actually, Tsuna-kun, you're in human form right now._"

"Huh?" He looked down at himself, and indeed, he was a human. "Oh..."

Giotto smiled in response, reassuring that Tsuna wasn't crazy or that the memory was a dream.

"So.. What happened to me?" Tsuna asked timidly, choosing to duck his head down to hide his embarrassment of exclaiming... _that_ in front of someone. Giotto noticed what he was doing, but chose to say nothing.

Instead, he explained. "_Well, you fainted after the realization that you were in bird form._"

Tsuna blushed and mumbled something. However, Giotto caught what he had said and gave a disapproving frown. "_Tsuna-kun, you are _not _stupid or weak! It's normal to have that reaction! If anyone else found themselves as a bird, they'd do that too!_"

Tsuna gave a confused look. "But that's what everyone at school says… Isn't it true?"

Giotto sighed and gave Tsuna a hard look. "_If I told you to kick Alau_—_no, Hibari-kun, would you do it?_"

Tsuna gave him a shocked look, and quickly replied, "Of course not! Why would anyone do that?"

Giotto smiled again and nodded. "_See? Don't do or believe what others tell you_. _You live your own life, you make what you are today because that was your choice. You chose not to kick Hibari-kun since you care about him, right?_"

Tsuna nodded, his chubby face starting to smile along with Giotto. "Right!"

"_Good._" He said, nodding. "_Now that we got that out of the way, I'll finish explain what happened to you._"

"Okay!" Tsuna exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically.

Ah, I see why Hibari took a liking to him… Giotto thought. He dismissed his thoughts, choosing to explain the current situation. "_Well, after you… passed out, Hibari picked you up and started to head back to his home_."

He earned a nod of understanding before Tsuna paused, as if thinking about a question.

"_What is it, Tsuna-kun?_" Giotto asked, prepared to answer his question.

"Mmh, well… How do you know that Hibari picked me up?" he questioned, his head tilting to the left.

"_Ah, good question, Tsuna-kun!_" Giotto praised, earning another embarrassed blush from Tsuna. "_Well, to be honest, Tsuna-kun, I don't._"

Tsuna made a very, _very_ confused face, before it became enlightened. "Ah! Are you like me, Giotto… san?"

"_Just call me Giotto,_" he chuckled. "_But I'm afraid that I don't know what you mean._"

Tsuna made a face. "I really don't how to… um..." He struggled slightly for the right word.

"_Explain?_" Giotto provided, chuckling lightly at the scrunched up face Tsuna made. Tsuna beamed.

"Yeah! Thank you, Giotto-san! I mean, Giotto..." Tsuna shyly looked at Giotto, embarrassed at how intimately they exchanged words. Tsuna never called anyone by just their names, as he had no friends. Hibari-san was his healer, providing him a safe place to stay before he could move around to search for his house. Tsuna had initially thought that Hibari could carry him to his house, only for the idea to be shot down when Hibari told him he could only do that if Tsuna knew the street name. Seeing how Tsuna seemed glum after that, Hibari assumed that he didn't know.

Giotto smiled softly at him, much like a proud father would do if his son had achieved the greatest goal ever. And for lonely little Tsuna, it might as well have. Giotto gently prodded at the discussion again, stirring Tsuna from his "embarrassing" situation. "_Well? Are you going to tell me?_" Giotto teased, smiling at him.

"Mmh-hm!" Tsuna chirped. "I'll try my best to… e-explain?" Tsuna looked at Giotto, waiting if he pronounced the foreign word correctly. Giotto nodding, ruffling Tsuna's head. His proud, father-like touch felt nice. It made _him _feel proud. It wasn't the same as his mother's petting, but very similar. It was like he had another parent, or an uncle, the term his mother mentioned before.

"Well, when something happens, like someone lying, I _know _if they were lying!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Or maybe… um… I feel like something's bad gonna happen, and I try… not to get hurt but I always do."

Giotto frowned slightly, but nodded anyways. "_When you try to not get hurt or try to stay away from something, you 'avoid'._" He smiled again.

"Mmh, okay!" Tsuna nodded his head several times, eager to learn new words.

Giotto smiled sadly, wondering how many times he got hurt from mischievous bullies. He seemed so eager to be accepted and to learn, but it seems that both the teachers and students don't. But before he could question him, Tsuna's feet started disappearing, startling both Tsuna and Giotto.

"HIIEEE! Giotto! Giotto! What's happening?! Why does it feel like someone's pulling me away?" Tsuna squeaked, flailing his arms as his shins seemed to evaporate . Giotto immediately grabbed him, telling him that he wasn't in danger. "_It's okay! You're only waking up in real life!_"

Tsuna stopped squirming, looking at Giotto with teary eyes. "D-does that m-mean that you're not real? That I only dreamed this?"

"_No! Of course not. I didn't explain this before, but we're in your mindscape right now._" Seeing Tsuna's confused face, he said, "A mindscape is like a world inside of your mind."

"Oh… So I'm only waking up? And why is my... mindscape so blank and dark?" Tsuna questioned, sending glances at his legs, nothingness creeping over his knees.

"_Yes, you are, and your mindscape is blank because you didn't put anything in here yet_," Giotto explained.

"I can put things in my mind? How?" Tsuna asked in wonder, blinking those large brown eyes at Giotto. Giotto simply laughed at how much awe was displayed on the cute face.

"_Nuh-uh, Tsuna-chan! That'll be a surprise until the next time you visit your mindscape!_" Giotto laughed, causing Tsuna to giggle as well. The last of Tsuna was disappearing into darkness and Giotto hugged his head close.

"_Don't ever forget the ones you love, Tsuna. No matter what._"

* * *

Tsuna woke up. He was very warm. He blinked his large brown eyes and shifted to look at his hands.

_I'm a boy again! _Tsuna thought, and grinned but faltered. _But… if I'm a boy again, why am I so warm?_

Glancing at his surroundings, he saw that he was in Hibari's arms yet again. In his shock, he had almost squeaked, which would have woken Hibari up and he didn't want that. He froze, not knowing what he should do, before settling with hugging Hibari closer.

But unbeknown to Tsuna, Hibari had already woken up due to Tsuna's shifting.

_Aah, the herbivore woke up… And judging by his weight, he's a human again. _Hibari idly thought. _What to do…?_

Hibari pondered his choices, before choosing to hug Tsuna closer. _I bit a lot of other herbivores before… Tetsuya can deal with the usual batch of herbivores today._

They laid there lazily, cuddling and exchanging warmth.

* * *

**How fluffy. And how terrible I am as an author. So, so terrible. And I'm not being modest—it's the truth. After months and months of procrastinating and contributing to the story little by little, I wrote this. Aren't I the worst? I wasn't even dead.**

**UWAAAAH, I'M THE WORST ACTIVE (but I might as well not be, seeing as I almost never update) AUTHOR EVERRRR! KILL ME NOW! KILL ME NOW! Actually, no, don't. I didn't complete my life goals yet. **_**Then **_**you can kill me. Until then, you can wait another few months for one chapter. Argh, the sentence makes me feel sad but it's the truth...**


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